Practical review

What to check in this situation

Compare dates, earnings categories and divisor rather than only the final weekly figure.
Calculate each employment independently before adding the resulting weekly averages.
Keep current weekly earnings and work-capacity issues separate from the historical PIAWE base.

Records that may help

Keep the PIAWE decision, calculation sheet, contracts, payslips, payroll summary, rosters, leave and role-change evidence.

Next procedural step

Preserve the canonical recalculation request on this page; do not rely on a duplicate blog route or an unsourced total.

How do you request a PIAWE recalculation in NSW?

To request a Pre-Injury Average Weekly Earnings (PIAWE) recalculation in NSW, write to the insurer, ask for the full rate breakdown and earning period, identify each wage item or period you say was handled incorrectly, and attach the supporting records. For PIAWE decisions made on or after 1 July 2026, PIAWE is not a section 43 work capacity decision. You may request an optional insurer review or lodge a dispute directly with the Personal Injury Commission (PIC) under the separate section 44BA pathway. IRO may fund approved legal assistance through ILARS, but it does not decide the PIAWE figure.

If you believe your weekly payments have been set too low by the insurer, you do not have to accept it. You can provide the missing information and ask the insurer to recalculate your Pre-Injury Average Weekly Earnings (PIAWE).

Signs that the PIAWE decision may be wrong

Your regular overtime, shift penalties, or allowances are missing from the insurer rate.
You had multiple jobs before injury and only one income source was counted.
The insurer used the wrong averaging window or could not explain the period in writing.
Your indexation/backpay looks lower than expected after a rate review.

If any of these apply, compare your figures with the PIAWE calculation guide and the multiple jobs guide before sending your written recalculation request.

What to do first

Ask the insurer in writing for a full PIAWE rate breakdown and the averaging period they used.
Attach your wage evidence pack (payslips, roster/overtime records, contracts, second-job records).
Identify each specific error in the insurer calculation rather than only saying the payment is low.
If no clear written answer follows, choose whether to request an optional insurer review or prepare a PIC dispute.

Why acting early matters

A wrong PIAWE figure can drag down your weekly payments for months or years. The longer the insurer's number sits unchallenged, the harder it becomes to unwind arrears arguments, missing payroll records, and return-to-work assumptions built on an underpaid rate.

Before writing to the insurer, compare your rate against the PIAWE calculation guide and the indexation rules guide so you know whether the issue is missing earnings, a wrong averaging period, or underpaid backpay.

Step 1: Identify the Error

PIAWE calculation issues can arise in the following areas:

Overtime & Allowances: Failing to include regular overtime or shift loadings from the relevant earning period under the rules applying to the claim.
Wrong earning period: Ignoring when employment began, a financially material earnings change, qualifying unpaid leave, or the special rule for employment under four weeks.
Secondary Employment: Ignoring income from a second job.
Non-monetary benefits: Omitting the cash value of a benefit that the worker stopped receiving after injury, or wrongly including a benefit the worker continued to use.

Step 2: Ask for recalculation or review

Start by contacting the insurer in writing and clearly identifying each error in their PIAWE decision. Provide supporting records (payslips, contracts, payroll summaries, rosters and tax records) to show your correct pre-injury earnings.

If you had more than one employer at the time of injury, use our multiple jobs guide before sending your review request so you include every relevant income source from the start.

If you need a practical timeline for assembling records and escalating quickly, follow our practical PIAWE recalculation guide.

Evidence checklist before you send the review

Full payslip history covering the relevant averaging period
Employment contract or award classification details
Rosters or payroll summaries showing overtime and shift patterns
Records from any second job or concurrent employment
Prior insurer rate letters and weekly payment notices for comparison

What a useful PIAWE rate breakdown should show

A proper recalculation request should not only ask the insurer to pay more. It should ask the insurer to explain the dates used, the employment records relied on, the treatment of overtime and allowances, whether concurrent employment was counted, and how any indexation or arrears figure was reached.

Calculation inputs

Ask for the averaging period, gross earnings used, excluded weeks, overtime/allowance treatment, second-job income treatment, and any payroll assumptions.

Decision outputs

Ask for the current weekly rate, past underpayment period, arrears calculation, indexation treatment, and the date from which the corrected rate will apply.

When the dispute is more than arithmetic

Some PIAWE disputes look like a spreadsheet problem but are really a mixed weekly-payment dispute. If the insurer has also raised suitable duties, current work capacity, partial earnings, a section 78 notice, or a work capacity decision, the recalculation request should be coordinated with those issues.

The practical risk is that the insurer corrects one number while leaving another assumption untouched. For example, a corrected PIAWE figure may still be undermined by an unrealistic capacity finding, a wrong post-injury earnings assumption, or an unchallenged suitable employment model.

What usually goes wrong before a recalculation request gets real traction

The worker says the rate looks wrong but never identifies the actual error

A general statement that the rate looks wrong may not identify what needs to be recalculated. A useful request points to the exact issue: missing overtime, wrong averaging period, lost second-job income, or a step-down built on the wrong base number. Start with the PIAWE calculation guide if the error is still fuzzy.

Payslips are provided without identifying the calculation issue

Wage records sent without an explanation may not show what part of the calculation is disputed. Tie those records to a written recalculation request and ask for a written response. This helps separate the wage issue from other claim correspondence.

The wage dispute is mixed up with work-capacity language

Once the insurer starts talking about suitable duties, partial earnings, or capacity to work, the underpayment issue may overlap with a work capacity decision. If that is happening, prepare for both arguments rather than treating the file as pure arithmetic.

The review is delayed until the claim is already under bigger pressure

A low starting rate becomes nastier once payments are reduced, stopped, or pushed toward statutory limits. If your weekly support is already under threat, compare the file with the weekly payments stopped guide and the section 78 notice guide.

Four-sentence template for your written recalculation request

I request a formal recalculation of my PIAWE and weekly payment rate.
The calculation appears incorrect because of [state each specific error, period, and earnings item].
I attach evidence for each issue and request a full written rate breakdown (method, dates, and period-by-period figures).
If the issue is not corrected, I will consider an optional insurer review or a PIC dispute.

Step 3: Choose the correct dispute path

If the insurer makes or maintains an incorrect PIAWE decision, you may request an optional internal review or lodge a dispute with the Personal Injury Commission. You do not have to complete internal review before applying to PIC. The Independent Review Office (IRO) may approve ILARS funding for eligible legal assistance. IRO does not decide the PIAWE amount; that dispute is determined through the Personal Injury Commission (PIC).

If the underpayment dispute is tied to a broader insurer decision about capacity, hours, or suitable duties, review the work capacity dispute pathway and the weekly payments stopped guide.

Common Questions

Can I ask for recalculation even if payments started months ago?

You can still provide missing information and ask for recalculation. If a new PIAWE decision increases the amount, SIRA's current guide states that the adjustment payment is to be paid within 14 days. Other time-limit issues should be checked against the decision and the applicable law.

Do I need every payslip from the full 52 weeks?

Complete records are best, but partial records can still support review. Missing records can often be obtained from your employer or payroll provider.

What if I had multiple jobs before injury?

Under the current rules, the average earnings for each job held at the injury date are calculated separately and then added. Earlier and exempt-worker claims require their applicable rules to be checked. See our multiple jobs guide and seek tailored advice early.

What documents should I send when checking the calculation?

Send your current and historical payslips, payroll summary, roster/overtime records, contract or award details, and any second-job earnings records. Ask for a full written rate breakdown and tie each document to a specific calculation error.

Ask us to review the calculation

Send us the insurer's PIAWE decision and the wage records you have. We can identify the next practical step, subject to the available evidence.

Start Free Claim Check Call (02) 7233 3661

What can I do if the insurer calculated my PIAWE incorrectly?